The prophet and the prophetess
596.
And what need is there to say more?
597.
The male is wholly truth, the female wholly falsehood.
598.
Yet he who is born of the male and the female, in some things speaks truth, in some falsehood.
599.
For the female, surrounding the white seed of the male with her own blood, as with red fire,
sustains her own weakness with the extraneous supports of bones,
and, pleased with the temporary flower of flesh,
and spoiling the strength of the judgment by short pleasures,
leads the greater part into fornication, and thus deprives them of the coming excellent Bridegroom.
600.
For every person is a bride, whenever he is enlightened in his understanding,
being sown with the true Prophet's whole word of truth,
Spiritual adultery
601.
Wherefore, it is fitting to hear the one only Prophet of the truth, knowing that the word that is sown by another bearing the charge of fornication, is, as it were, cast out by the Bridegroom from His kingdom.
602.
But to those who know the mystery, death is also produced by spiritual adultery.
603.
For whenever the soul is sown by others, then it is forsaken by the Spirit,
as guilty of fornication or adultery;
604.
and so the living body, the life-giving Spirit being withdrawn, is dissolved into dust, and the rightful punishment of sin is suffered at the time of the judgment by the soul, after the dissolution of the body;
even as, among men, she who is caught in adultery is first cast out from the house,
and then afterwards is condemned to punishment.
The signal given
605.
While Peter was about to explain fully to us this mystic word, Zacchæus came, saying:
Now indeed, O Peter, is the time for you to go out and engage in the discussion;
for a great crowd awaits you, packed together in the court;
and in the midst of them stands Simon, like a war-chieftain attended by his spearmen.
606.
And Peter, hearing this, ordered me to withdraw for prayer,
as not yet having received baptism for salvation,
and then said to those who were already perfected:
607.
Let us rise and pray that God, by His unfailing mercies,
may help me striving for the salvation of the men whom He has made.
608.
And having thus said, and having prayed, he went out into the uncovered portion of the court,
which was a large space; and there were many come together for the purpose of seeing him,
his pre-eminence having made them more eagerly hasten to hear.
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Apostolic salutation
609.
Therefore, standing and seeing all the people gazing upon him in profound silence,
and Simon the magician standing in the midst, he began to speak thus:
610.
Peace be to all you who are in readiness to give your right hands to the truth of God,
which, being His great and incomparable gift in the present world,
611.
He who sent us, being an infallible Prophet of that which is supremely profitable,
gave us in charge, by way of salutation before our words of instruction,
to announce to you, in order that if there be any son of peace among you,
peace may take hold of him through our teaching;
612.
but if any of you will not receive it, then we,
shaking off for a testimony the road-dust of our feet, which we have borne through our toils,
and brought to you that you may be saved, will go to the abodes and the cities of others.
Faith in God
613.
And we tell you truly, it shall be more tolerable in the day of judgment to dwell in the land of Sodom and Gomorrah, than in the place of unbelief.
614.
In the first place, because you have not preserved of yourselves what is reasonable;
in the second place, because, hearing the things concerning us, you have not come to us;
and in the third place, because you have disbelieved us when we have come to you.
615.
Wherefore, being concerned for you, we pray of our own accord that our peace may come upon you.
616.
If therefore ye will have it, you must readily promise not to do injustice,
and generously to bear wrong;
617.
which the nature of man would not sustain,
unless it first received the knowledge of that which is supremely profitable,
which is to know the righteous nature of Him who is over all,
that He defends and avenges those who are wronged, and does good for ever to the pious.
Invitation
618.
Do you, therefore, as thankful servants of God, perceiving of yourselves what is reasonable,
take upon you the manner of life that is pleasing to Him,
that so, loving Him, and being loved of Him, you may enjoy good for ever.
619.
For to Him alone is it most possible to bestow it,
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who gave being to things that were not, who created the heavens, settled the earth,
set bounds to the sea, stored up the things that are in Hades, and filled all places with air.
Works of creation
620.
He alone turned into the four contrary elements the one, first, simple substance.
621.
Thus combining them, He made of them myriads of compounds,
that, being turned into opposite natures, and mingled,
they might effect the pleasure of life from the combination of contraries.
622.
In like manner, He alone,
having created races of angels and spirits by the fiat of His will, peopled the heavens;
as also He decked the visible firmament with stars,
to which also He assigned their paths and arranged their courses.
623.
He compacted the earth for the production of fruits.
624.
He set bounds to the sea, marking out a dwelling-place on the dry land.
625.
He stores up the things in Hades, designating it as the place of souls; and He filled all places with air, that all living creatures might be able to breathe safely in order that they might live.
The Book of Preachings CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Divisions 626-655
PREACHINGS 3
Extent of creation
626.
O the great hand of the wise God, which does all in all!
627.
For a countless multitude of birds have been made by Him, and those various,
differing in all respects from one another;
I mean in respect of their colours, beaks, talons, looks, senses, voices, and all else.
628.
And how many different species of plants,
distinguished by boundless variety of colours, qualities, and scents!
629.
And how many animals on the land and in the water,
of which it were impossible to tell the figures, forms, habitats, colour, food, senses, natures, multitude!
630.
Then also the multitude and height of mountains, the varieties of stones, awful caverns,
fountains, rivers, marshes, seas, harbours, islands, forests,
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and all the inhabited world, and places uninhabited!
These are a part of his ways
631.
And how many things besides are unknown, having eluded the sagacity of men!
632.
And of those that are within our comprehension, who of mankind knows the limit?
633.
I mean, how the heaven rolls, how the stars are borne in their courses,
and what forms they have, and the subsistence of their being, and what are their ethereal paths.
634.
And whence the blasts of winds are borne around, and have different energies;
whence the fountains ceaselessly spring, and the rivers, being ever flowing, run down into the sea,
and neither is that fountain emptied whence they come, nor do they fill that sea whither they come!
635.
How far reaches the unfathomable depth of the boundless Tartarus!
636.
Upon what the heaven is upborne which encircles all!
637.
How the clouds spring from air, and are absorbed into air!
638.
What is the nature of thunder and lightning, snow, hail, mist, ice, storms, showers, hanging clouds!
639.
And how He makes plants and animals!
640.
And these things, with all accuracy, continually perfected in their countless varieties!
Dominion over the creatures
641.
Therefore, if any one shall accurately scan the whole with reason,
he shall find that God has made them for the sake of man.
642.
For showers fall for the sake of fruits, that man may partake of them,
and that animals may be fed, that they may be useful to men.
643.
And the sun shines, that he may turn the air into four seasons,
and that each time may afford its peculiar service to man.
644.
And the fountains spring, that drink may be given to men.
645.
And, moreover, who is lord over the creatures, so far as is possible?
646.
Is it not man, who has received wisdom to till the earth,
to sail the sea:
to make fishes, birds, and beasts his prey;
to investigate the course of the stars,
647.
to mine the earth,
to sail the sea;
to build cities,
to define kingdoms,
648.
to ordain laws,
to execute justice,
to know the invisible God,
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to be cognizant of the names of angels,
649.
to drive away demons,
to endeavour to cure diseases by medicines,
to find charms against poison-darting serpents,
to understand antipathies?
Whom to know is life eternal
650.
But if you art thankful, O man, understanding that God is your benefactor in all things, you may even be immortal, the things that are made for you having continuance through your gratitude.
651.
And now you are able to become incorruptible, if you acknowledge Him whom you did not know,
if you love Him whom you forsook,
if you pray to Him alone who is able to punish or to save your body and soul.
652.
Wherefore, before all things, consider that no one shares His rule,
no one has a name in common with Him—that is, is called God.
653.
For He alone is both called and is God.
654.
Nor is it lawful to think that there is any other, or to call any other by that name.
655.
And if any one should dare do so, eternal punishment of soul is his.
The Book of Preachings CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Divisions 656-685
PREACHINGS 3
Simon's challenge
656.
When Peter had thus spoken, Simon, at the outside of the crowd, cried aloud:
657.
Why would you lie, and deceive the unlearned multitude standing around you,
persuading them that it is unlawful to think that there are gods, and to call them so,
when the books that are current among the Jews say that there are many gods?
658.
And now I wish, in the presence of all,
to discuss with you from these books on the necessity of thinking that there are gods;
659.
first showing respecting him whom you call God, that he is not the supreme and omnipotent Being,
inasmuch as he is without foreknowledge, imperfect, needy, not good,
and underlying many and innumerable grievous passions.
660.
Wherefore, when this has been shown from the Scriptures, as I say, it follows that there is another,
not written of, foreknowing, perfect, without want, good, removed from all grievous passions.
661.
Yet he whom you call the Creator is subject to the opposite evils.
Defects ascribed to God
662.
Therefore also Adam, being made at first after his likeness, is created blind,
and is said not to have knowledge of good or evil, and is found a transgressor,
and is driven out of paradise, and is punished with death.
663.
In like manner also, he who made him, because he sees not in all places,
says with reference to the overthrow of Sodom,
664.
'Come, and let us go down, and see whether they do according to their cry which comes to me;
or if not, that I may know.'
665.
Thus he shows himself ignorant.
666.
And in his saying respecting Adam,
'Let us drive him out, lest he put forth his hand and touch the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever;'
in saying lest he is ignorant;
and in driving him out lest he should eat and live for ever, he is also envious.
667.
And whereas it is written that 'God repented that he had made man,'
this implies both repentance and ignorance.
668.
For this reflection is a view by which one, through ignorance,
wishes to inquire into the result of the things which he wills,
or it is the act of one repenting on account of the event not being according to his expectation.
669.
And whereas it is written, 'And the Lord smelled a scent of sweetness,' it is the part of one in need;
and his being pleased with the fat of flesh is the part of one who is not good.
670.
But his tempting, as it is written, 'And God did tempt Abraham,'
is the part of one who is wicked, and who is ignorant of the issue of the experiment.
Peter's answer
671.
In like manner Simon, by taking many passages from the Scriptures,
seemed to show that God is subject to every infirmity.
672.
And to this Peter said:
Does he who is evil, and wholly wicked, love to accuse himself in the things in which he sins?
Answer me this.
673.
Then said Simon:
He does not.
674.
Then said Peter:
How, then, can God be evil and wicked,
seeing that those evil things which have been commonly written regarding Him,
have been added by His own will!
675.
Then said Simon:
It may be that the charge against Him is written by another power, and not according to His choice.
676.
Then said Peter:
Let us then, in the first place, inquire into this.
677.
If, indeed, He has of His own will accused Himself, as you formerly acknowledged,
then He is not wicked;
yet if it is done by another power,
it must be inquired and investigated with all energy who has subjected to all evils
Him who alone is good.
Status quæstionis.
678.
Then said Simon:
You are manifestly avoiding the hearing of the charge from the Scriptures against your God.
679.
Then Peter:
You yourself appear to me to be doing this;
for he who avoids the order of inquiry, does not wish a true investigation to be made.
680.
Hence I, who proceed in an orderly manner,
and wish that the writer should first be considered, am manifestly desirous to walk in a straight path.
681.
Then Simon:
First confess that if the things written against the Creator are true,
he is not above all, since, according to the Scriptures, he is subject to all evil;
then afterwards we shall inquire as to the writer.
682.
Then said Peter:
That I may not seem to speak against your want of order
through unwillingness to enter upon the investigation, I answer you.
683.
I say that if the things written against God are true,
they do not show that God is wicked.
684.
Then said Simon:
How can you maintain that?
Was Adam blind?
685.
Then said Peter:
Because things are written opposite to those sayings which speak evil of him;
wherefore neither the one nor the other can be confirmed.
The Book of Preachings CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Divisions 686-710
PREACHINGS 3
686.
Then Simon:
How, then, is the truth to be ascertained,
of those Scriptures that say he is evil, or of those that say he is good?
687.
Then Peter:
Whatever sayings of the Scriptures are in harmony with the creation that was made by Him are true,
but whatever are contrary to it are false.
688.
Then Simon said:
How can you show that the Scriptures contradict themselves?
689.
And Peter said:
You say that Adam was created blind, which was not so;
for He would not have pointed out the tree of the knowledge of good and evil to a blind man,
and commanded him not to taste of it.
690.
Then said Simon:
He meant that his mind was blind.
691.
Then Peter:
How could he be blind in respect of his mind, who, before tasting of the tree,
in harmony with Him who made him, imposed appropriate names on all the animals?
692.
Then Simon:
If Adam had foreknowledge, how did he not foreknow that the serpent would deceive his wife?
693.
Then Peter:
If Adam had not foreknowledge,
how did he give names to the sons of men as they were born with reference to their future doings,
694.
calling the first Cain (which is interpreted 'envy'), who through envy killed his brother Abel
(which is interpreted 'grief'), for his parents grieved over him, the first slain?
God's foreknowledge
695.
Yet if Adam, being the work of God, had foreknowledge, much more the God who created him.
696.
And that is false which is written that God reflected, as if using reasoning on account of ignorance;
and that the Lord tempted Abraham, that He might know if he would endure it;
and that which is written,
697.
'Let us go down, and see if they are doing according to the cry of them which comes to me;
and if not, that I may know.'
698.
And, not to extend my discourse too far, whatever sayings ascribe ignorance to Him, or anything else that is evil, being upset by other sayings which affirm the contrary, are proved to be false.
699.
But because He does indeed foreknow, He says to Abraham,
'You shall assuredly know that your seed shall be sojourners in a land that is not their own;
and they shall enslave them, and shall evil entreat them, and humble them 400 years.
700.
But the nation to which they shall be in bondage will I judge,
and after that they shall come out hither with much property;
701.
but you shall depart to your fathers with peace, being nourished in a good old age;
and in the fourth generation they shall return hither,
for the sins of the Amorites are hitherto not filled up.'
God's decrees
702.
But what?
Does not Moses pre-intimate the sins of the people, and predict their dispersion among the nations?
703.
But if He gave foreknowledge to Moses, how can it be that He had it not Himself?
But He has it.
704.
And if He has it, as we have also shown, it is an extravagant saying that He reflected,
and that He repented, and that He went down to see, and whatever else of this sort.
705.
Whatsoever things being fore-known before they come to pass as about to befall,
take issue by a wise economy, without repentance.
Sacrifices
706.
Yet that He is not pleased with sacrifices, is shown by this,
that those who lusted after flesh were slain as soon as they tasted it,
and were consigned to a tomb, so that it was called the grave of lusts.
707.
He then who at the first was displeased with the slaughtering of animals,
not wishing them to be slain, did not ordain sacrifices as desiring them;
nor from the beginning did He require them.
708.
For neither are sacrifices accomplished without the slaughter of animals,
nor can the first-fruits be presented.
709.
Yet how is it possible for Him to abide in darkness, and smoke, and storm (for this also is written),
who created a pure heaven, and created the sun to give light to all, and assigned the invariable order of their revolutions to innumerable stars?
710.
Thus, O Simon, the handwriting of God—I mean the heaven—
shows the counsels of Him who made it to be pure and stable.
The Book of Preachings CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR
Divisions 711-735
PREACHINGS 3
Disparagements of God
711.
Thus the sayings accusatory of the God who made the heaven are both rendered void by the opposite sayings which are alongside of them, and are refuted by the creation.
712.
For they were not written by a prophetic hand.
713.
Wherefore also they appear opposite to the hand of God, who made all things.
714.
Then said Simon:
How can you show this?
Foreknowledge of Moses
715.
Then said Peter:
The law of God was given by Moses, without writing, to seventy wise men, to be handed down, that the government might be carried on by succession.
716.
Yet after that Moses was taken up, it was written by some one, but not by Moses.
717.
For in the law itself it is written, 'And Moses died;
and they buried him near the house of Phogor, and no one knows his sepulchre till this day.'
715.
But how could Moses write that Moses died?
716.
And whereas in the time after Moses, about 500 years or thereabouts,
it is found lying in the temple which was built, and after about 500 years more it is carried away,
and being burnt in the time of Nebuchadnezzar it is destroyed;
and thus being written after Moses, and often lost,
717.
even this shows the foreknowledge of Moses,
because he, foreseeing its disappearance, did not write it;
yet those who wrote it, being convicted of ignorance through their not foreseeing its disappearance,
were not prophets.
Test of truth
718.
Then said Simon:
Since, as you say,
we must understand the things concerning God by comparing them with the creation,
how is it possible to recognise the other things in the law which are from the tradition of Moses,
and are true, and are mixed up with these falsehoods?
719.
Then Peter said:
A certain verse has been recorded without controversy in the written law,
according to the providence of God,
so as to show clearly which of the things written are true and which are false.
720.
Then said Simon:
Which is that? Show it us.
The true prophet
721.
Then Peter said:
I shall tell you immediately. It is written in the first book of the law, towards the end: '
722.
A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until He come whose it is;
and He is the expectation of the nations.'
723.
If, therefore, any one can apprehend Him who came after the failure of ruler and leader from Judah,
and who was to be expected by the nations,
he will be able by this verse to recognise Him as truly having come; and believing His teaching,
he will know what of the Scriptures are true and what are false.
724.
Then said Simon:
I understand that you speak of your Jesus as Him who was prophesied of by the scripture.
725.
Therefore let it be granted that it is so.
726.
Tell us, then, how he taught you to discriminate the Scriptures.
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